life update.

tap tap... is this thing on?? Anyone out there??

Hi friends! It's been a loooong while since I've posted on this blog and I thought it was time I dusted it off.

A lot as happened in the last year and a half. Well actually... a lot has changed a lot of things have stayed the same too.

We are still loving our 'new' house (its been 2 years! not so new anymore!) and keep busy doing projects, decorating, and landscaping. 

We still love traveling and have taken trips to Las Vegas, Eastern USA (New York, Philadelphia and Washington DC), Halifax, Whistler,  and Whidbey Island. We don't have any big trips planned right now but are planning to go to Portland at the end of September to see an Oregon Ducks Football game. 

Bo is still the funniest member of our family. She's growing up so much and has mellowed out a LOT which has been really great. She does a lot better with guests, although still not great, she's easily excited and looooves people. 

What has changed is that David and I both started new jobs last spring/summer. He's working in the project management department for a construction company and I landed a gig with the provincial government working at an income assistance office. Both jobs are definitely a step up for us and we are so grateful! 

Another thing that's changed is that my sister, Hannah, and her family moved to Edmonton :'( They also welcomed baby Ivy into the world in March! We miss them so much but luckily they come to visit quite often (again at the end of the month!!!). I'm also hoping to go out there in the fall to visit so I can see where they live.

What's new right now is that the valley is completely socked in with smoke from all the wildfires burning in the province. It's been here for like a week and probably won't go away for another few days :( It's driving me completely crazy, the sky is grey all the time and the air is thick and muggy. Doesn't help that I have a cold so my nose is already runny and my throat is sore. This yucky, hot air is not helping!

I've also been crafting up a storm and have done some really fun projects recently. But that, my friends, will be for another post ;)

'til next time!

Kristina

PS. I'm hoping to post once a week for a bit to see how I like it. So stay tuned!

family day weekend

For David's birthday (back in December) I booked us a couple of nights in a condo in Vancouver and it was finally time this weekend! I booked it for the Family Day weekend so we would still have Monday to chill at home and do errands. We ate out for every meal, walked and walked and walked, binge-watched Curse of Oak Island and it was AWESOME.

^ the view from our place.

Friday night it was pouring rain and we got drenched when we walked to Cactus Club. But Saturday was dry and we made the most of it by walking down Robson Street, doing some shopping. and walking the sea wall. 

^ waffles at Nero Belgian Waffles for pre-dinner (we had appies at Boston Pizza later :P)

^ and of course on the way home we stopped at the airport to see some planes. 

It really was a great couple of days away. It felt awesome to just relax with no schedule or responsibility, we came and went 10 times a day, ate what our hearts desired, and watched tv, guilt-free. 

I was going to write that we need to do this more often until I realized that we have a trip to Vegas booked for March, so excited to explore a new place!

^ on Monday it was beautiful and sunny so we walked at the Blue Heron Reserve with Michelle and Eric. We also went to Chilliwack Airport for lunch and pie!

^ by the end of the weekend we were all pretty pooped. 

lately.

A little bit of what I've been up to lately:

watching Last Man Standing with David. We just finished the four seasons on Netflix and David is SO obsessed with this show. He asks every person we see lately if they have seen it (no one has) and then tells them how hilarious it is and they they should watch it and that it has Tim Allen you know! I also just finished the first season of How to Get Away With Murder... man that show is weird... I don't think I'll watch season two. 

wearing my 'Fraser Valley' tank that I got for Christmas. This tank top is seriously the most comfortable thing I own. I wear it with a sweater at home and with a cardigan and scarf to work. It goes with everything!

ordering a new pair of sneakers for longer walks. I got these from the Bay and I LOVE them so far. 

trying desperately to train Bo to have better manners when people come over. She barks and jumps and gets SO excited when people come over. She just wants to slobber all over them and lick their faces. We're working on the jumping thing but she just seems to forget everything we taught her as soon as the doorbell rings. And she won't calm down once we sit down either. She wants to jump on their laps sooooo badly. I don't know what to do to calm her down. We try to put her on a leash and ignore her or put her in her crate but she just barks and barks. So far the only thing that works to quiet her down is to give her a bone to chew on, and even that only last a few minutes. I try to remember that she's just a puppy (7 months) but it's getting pretty exhausting. Dog people: got any tips for us? 

planning a quick trip to Vancouver this weekend. For David's birthday I got us a couple nights away in the city. We are so excited to play tourists for a couple of days. I've been looking up restaurants and shops I want to go to and we are going to take the sky train to the airport one day to watch the planes (David's only request). 

reading a book about grief. More specifically, how to help someone else in their grief. It's called Don't Sing Songs to a Heavy Heart and is a spin-off book from a course I took last Fall. I just read the first few chapters so I don't have any pearls of wisdom for you just yet. But I'm hoping it will help me navigate the confusing waters of what to say, and more importantly (I think), what not to say when someone is grieving a loss. 

missing my sweet new nephew Roland and loving all the pictures they have been posting of him! I can't wait to meet this little guy (hopefully in March!). 

failing at my goal of establishing a morning routine. I got up early and went for a walk once or twice in January. Turns out... not a morning person! who knew ;) I'm going to give myself permission to give up on this one without feeling guilty. Early mornings are just not for me. 

knitting my very first sock! I'm super excited about this one. It's one of my resolutions to knit a pair of socks this year and I'm off to a pretty good start. 

Out with the old, in with the new

Happy New Year!
I realize January is already half over but it's never to late for a yearly recap :)

2015 is over and I gotta say, I'm not sad about it!
Last year was by far my hardest year yet. Lots of really great and exciting things but also lots of big and scary things, lots of stress, and lots of disappointment.

First the highlights:
1. We started the year on the east coast! Our trip to Halifax was amazing. We loved seeing where Bruce & Lydia are raising their family and getting to know their kiddos (and now where Beth and Mark live too!).

2. 2015 was definitely the year of trips because in February we made our way to Orlando with David's family. We celebrated David's parents 25th wedding anniversary with a trip to Disney World. My first time at Disney did not disappoint and we made lots of great memories.

3. The BIGGEST trip we took was in May, we journeyed across town, with all of our belongings, to our new house! We spent the first half of the year putting the finishing touches on everything and the second half of the year getting settled in. And now, at the end of the year we aaaalllmost have all of our boxes unpacked. My favourite part of the house has been all the windows! I can see the sky and the beautiful view from almost anywhere in the house.

4. We got a puppy! Boeing the Basset Hound joined our family in August. She's challenged us in a lot of ways (house training, sleeping through the night, a nasty intestinal bug that scared us to death) but she's also brought a lot of joy and laughter. I love cuddling with her on the couch and she seriously is the best comic relief when things get tense.

I was going to list the things that didn't go so great this year but I changed my mind. Sure, lots of things didn't go my way in 2015 but I'm going to focus on the good things because 2016 is a brand new year and it can only get better from here! right?

Also, I'm going to post my list of goals for the year because a little bit of internet accountability never hurt anyone!

• Establish a morning routine. Right now my mornings consist of waking up as late as possible, downing a cup of coffee and rushing out the door. In 2016 I want to wake up with enough time to take the dog for a walk, drink my coffee slowly, and do some morning devotions. I'm 18 days in to January and have been failing miserably but luckily tomorrow is a new day with a new morning and I'm going to try to get out of bed before 8!
• Make dinner once a week. Like a reeeaaal dinner, like not frozen pizza, grilled cheese, or macaroni! This is going to be a tough one because cooking is NOT my favourite thing. But real dinners mean healthy food and that's something that I should be making a priority. One step at a time.
• Walk 50,000 steps a week. I got my fitbit in August and it's shown my how inactive I really am. They recommend getting 10,000 steps a day but since my job involves sitting at a desk for 7 hours a day that really isn't possible. 50,000 will be a challenge but it is actually attainable so if you want to go for walks give me a call!
• Get earthquake prepared. The earthquake we had a few weeks ago got me kind of freaked out (even though I didn't even feel it). We have no plan or supplies if a big earthquake happened. So, I ordered this kit from the Red Cross and I'm going to get together copies of our documents and some food and water. I'm thinking about putting together mini kits for our cars as well. 
• Knit a pair of socks. This has been on my goal list for forever! I bought the yarn last Christmas when we were in Halifax so I'm hoping by next Christmas I can get them done! I've been practicing my circular knitting by knitting a ton of little toques for my nieces and nephews. I'm really loving it. 
• Organize my files. Pretty self-explanatory. This really need to get done. Hopefully me and David can divide and conquer on this one. 
• Make photobooks. I'd like to catch up on the last few years but mostly I want to start now. I made a private instagram account to post pictures on and I'm going to print books (using Chatbooks) once I get a bunch. I'm thinking this should be easy enough that I'll actually do it. So far I've posted about 40 photos since October so I should have my first book done soon. I'm excited for this one!

And that's it! What are your goals for the year? Need an accountability partner? I'm hoping by posting my goals here I'll have a bit more motivation to stick to them. 

Hope you all are doing well!

Kristina